Marketing the Messiah

I haven't been writing for the blog much lately.  I'll get back to it soon.  But I have been writing.  This piece was accepted by Standard Publishing for their Adult Sunday School Quarterly, "Seek," and will appear in December this year.  

We live in a marketing saturated culture.  According to Consumer Reports, the average American is exposed to 247 commercial messages a day.  From the sixty second spots that interrupt our favorite television shows to the receipts that print out at the grocery store with coupons on the back.  From vehicle wraps that turn buses into billboards to sponsored phone lines radio call in shows.  Products are placed, logos are designed, jingles are sung, taglines are repeated - all with the intent of prodding us to purchase, or donate, or register. 

I’m not being cynical.  I’m part of the system.  I work as a retail manager, constantly thinking about how to generate revenue, increase loyalty, and improve profit margins.  I place products to maximize sales.  I train my employees to suggestively offer products and services.  I study sales figures to keep adequate stock levels and minimize spoilage. 

So when I hear, in John 3, that John the Baptist is losing market share in his signature service, I think marketing.  His disciples come to him with concern over a competitor siphoning off the stream of baptismal customers.  “Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him” (John 3:26).  This is a problem easily addressed.  Fresh strategies will breathe new life into John’s start-up and propel him back on top.  With some simple changes, he can set the standard in the baptismal marketplace.  As an innovator, his name will be forever linked to baptizing.

So here is my proposal.  Build a new viewing area with comfortable seating for family and friends.  If possible, include a pavilion to provide shade from the midday sun or shelter from passing rain showers. Comfortable locker rooms would be an attractive addition, as would regulated water temperatures.  As candidates exit the water they should be met by one of John’s disciples with a warmed terry cloth towel to wrap around them.  Photography service with a free 8x10 and numerous package options available would be an easy addition, as many photographers would jump at the chance to capitalize on such a memorable moment. 

New lighting would allow for evening baptisms and a café could offer refreshments.  Over time they might consider offering special “dinner and a baptism” deals, though I might recommend they outsource the catering, since food service is a whole mess of regulations.  These special events would be a perfect opportunity for an advertising blitz whether through direct mailing or media spots.

Some of this may demand a bit too much overhead, so they might want to put some feelers out for investors.  I’m sure they could convince people this is a worthwhile investment with a well-developed presentation for venture capitalists.

And this is just for starters, ideas that flow off the top of my head.  There is much more they can do to turn this around.  But just as I’m getting excited by the possibility, John douses my enthusiasm with his response. 

“John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease’” (John 3:27-30).

The disciples come with a concern.  Smaller crowds.  I’m thinking of a solution.  Drum up more interest.  This seems justifiable.  You can make a case for large crowds in ministry as much as the marketplace. If the ministry is worthwhile, then why wouldn’t we want more people exposed to it. More people means more influence.  Larger services, more visitors, better production, higher offerings become measuring sticks of ministry success, like profit and loss spreadsheets in the retail world.  Churches are measured by how effectively they fill the seats. But this is short-sighted.

John says this shrinkage is according to plan.  His decrease means Jesus’ increase.  As he fades, Christ is exalted.  He is not the groom in this wedding, the focal point of the festivity.  He is the groomsman, who is making sure that attention goes to the bridal couple. Before the wedding starts, he may be the most noticeable one, scurrying around making last minute preparations.  But when the bridal march begins and the groom enters from the side door, the groomsman is happy to stand off to the side, largely unnoticed.  His whole intent is to focus attention on the groom.

And so we see that John is more concerned about attention than attendance.  He will do all he can to direct people’s attention to Christ.  This is the measure of ministry.  How effectively does the church draw people’s attention to Christ?  John would prefer and handful of Christ-absorbed people over an auditorium full of John-absorbed people.  He recognizes that his time has come to fade into the background and turn the spotlight on Jesus.

And the corporate application wiggles its way down to the individual.  How effectively do you turn the attention of people you interact with to Christ?  Does your life point them to The Life?  Are you willing to say, with John, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  He doesn’t need better marketing.  He needs you pointing those in your family, in your neighborhood, and in your workplace to Christ.

Entertaining a Contrast

This post builds on my previous post Navigator in Focus in which I suggested that discipleship is summed up with the concept of “landscape a blur, relationship in focus.”  We trust Christ as our navigator to steer our lives despite the uncertainty of the path.

Entertain – From the Latin entre (among) and tenir (to hold) conveying a sense of capturing one’s attention, mesmerizing one’s focus. 

Columbus Day weekend was one of those rare glorious autumn weekends in Central New York.  Sunny skies, mild temperature, and autumn leaves near peak splendor all converged at the perfect time.  So my kids made plans for the perfect way to spend this long weekend.  They would bask in the glorious hues of…television.  They had hours upon hours of the whole Disney Channel lineup on DVR ready to hypnotize them with an endless loop of laugh tracks.  As exceedingly cruel parents, we set limits on how much they could watch.  Minutes after the television was turned off, a consensus was reached.  The kids were bored.  There was nothing to do.  Nothing.  Ride bikes, fish in our pond, walk the trails around our house, draw with sidewalk chalk, jump rope, lay in their hammocks, play hide and seek, catch bugs, collect leaves, and a litany of other suggestions all amounted  to “nothing to do.”  Their hearts were set on “I’m In the Band” and “I Carly.”  They wanted to be entertained.  They’re not alone.

There is a chunk of material in Mark 1-2 that lands between the calling of the four fishermen, Simon, Andrew, James and John (Mark 1:16-20) and the calling of the tax collector, Levi (Mark 2:13-14).  In part, this interruption serves as a contrast to the calling of the disciples, a foil to the principle of “landscape a blur, relationship in focus.”  Sandwiched between these episodes of Jesus calling individuals to follow him is this highly concentrated dose of miracle stories.  Jesus

-        drives out an evil spirit (1:21-28),
-        heals Simon’s mother-in-law from a fever (1:29-31)
-        heals many who gather at her house ((1:32-34)
-        heals a man with leprosy (1:40-45)
-        heals a paralytic, (the one who is lowered through the roof into the house due to the large crowds)

He’s putting on quite a show.  A show that elicits great enthusiasm.  Three times the text mentions the people’s amazement (1:22, 27, 2:12).  Four times it mentions the swelling crowds (1:33, 37,45, 2:2).  There is a growing excitement surrounding Jesus’ ministry.  He is creating a stir.  People are clambering for a piece of him.  His fame is on the rise. The circus has come to town.

And yet, Jesus is attempting to quiet the buzz.  He withdraws to an isolated place (1:35), he tells the demons not to speak because they know who he is (1:33), he instructs the man with leprosy not to tell anyone after he is healed (1:44).  This all seems counterintuitive. He’s snubbing the reporters, avoiding the paparazzi, squandering this opportunity for exposure by riding the brakes.  As if this is not his intent. 

He recognizes that the burgeoning swarm is full of observers, spectators, crowd sitters. They crane their necks to get a better view.  They come for the spectacle.   They will go back to their routines in a moment.   This is built on curiosity, not allegiance.  For them, this has nothing to do with a journey, it is an event.  This is not about a navigator, it is about a showman.  This is not what Jesus is interested in. 

For all the enthusiasm in these episodes, there is a decided lack of intimacy.  In contrast to the calling of named individuals surrounding this text, none in these hordes of people are mentioned by name.  The only names that crop up are the four that have already responded to Jesus call, James, John, Simon, and Andrew (1:29).  Everyone else is nameless.  These crowds are not interested in relationship – they want to be entertained. 

There is contrast between the calling of the disciples, invitations to intimacy, and these episodes of box office success with people who are entertained, but never follow. 

And this is where I am convicted.  For all my finger pointing, I’m no different.  My kids learned it from someone and I would be hard pressed to build a case against the charge.  I tend toward inertia, preferring to watch rather than participate, taking my cues from those around me rather than taking initiative. 

I see it in countless ways.  Ways that I’d like to develop in my next post. But not now.  I need to catch up on the programs I've DVRed.